The residents and state officials clamoring against Connecticut Light & Power's proposed rate increase have gained a sizable corporate ally: the world's largest retailer. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in recent weeks has begun a careful critique of CL&P's request for a steep increase in distribution rates. An executive at Wal-Mart's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., called some of the changes proposed to the company's profit margin "excessive" based on the general direction of profit margins in the industry and the consideration of regulators on a measure to make CL&P's revenues more stable.

Attention shoppers: Wal-Mart store no. 2299 is now open. The latest outpost of the Arkansas-based retailing giant officially opened Wednesday morning on Route 372 with whoops from workers, checks for charities, balloons for babies and platitudes for politicians. "Howdy, y'all!" was how store manager John Leone -- a New Jersey native -- welcomed the early morning crowd. "In 15 minutes, the cost of living for every man, woman and child in Cromwell will improve." Leone and other company officials led the 200-plus employees in the trademark Wal-Mart cheer, which entailed hand clapping, foot stomping and a gutteral shout that sounded like, "Huuugh!"

On the subject of Wal-Mart or any store banning legal gun-carrying customers [June 20, editorial, "Check Guns At The Door"], consider the following scenario: A store is being robbed by several armed bad guys. At the same time, there are several licensed gun-carrying patrons who decide to protect themselves and other customers as "good guys. " The bad guys begin firing at the good guys and vice-versa. The police enter with weapons drawn and walk into the middle of a firefight. How do they distinguish at that moment who's who?

Saying that Wal-Mart is violating state tax laws when requiring customers to pay a second sales tax on exchanges, state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has instructed the giant company to conduct a review of its practices and take remedial action. "Wal-Mart should refund any consumer who was denied a refund of sales tax on returned goods or charged a sales tax on even exchanges," Blumenthal wrote to Sam Reeves, Wal-Mart's division general counsel. Blumenthal based his letter on complaints I have received from Wal-Mart customers and have published in both my Watchdog columns and on my blog this month at www.courant.

A proposed Wal-Mart on the Berlin Turnpike will be discussed at a public hearing Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the E. Curtis Ambler Room (Conference Room 3) in town hall. This will be the second public hearing on the development, which drew several residents to a hearing two weeks ago. Wal-Mart is proposing a 135,000-square-foot store, along with a tire and lube center, on the lot formerly occupied by Bradlees and The Wiz. The site plan also proposes two parcels for restaurants.

Have you been away and not heard that Wal-Mart may be coming to town? A mounted graphic of the proposed overall site plan as submitted to the conservation commission is available for public viewing in meeting Room 1 on the first floor of town hall. An identical graphic is also available for viewing at the Cragin Memorial Library. Plans for a 142-acre site off Parum Road call for a 155,530- square-foot Wal-Mart store and 307,855 square feet for smaller businesses.

By JULIE STAGIS, jstagis@courant.com and The Hartford Courant, March 23, 2012

Haven't had the chance to indulge in a box of Samoas or Thin Mints this year? The Avon Girl Scouts will be selling cookies this Saturday and Sunday, March 24 and 25, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Cookies are $4 per box or $48 for a case. Cookies can also be bought for troops overseas through the Connecticut Girl Scouts' "Cookies for Heroes" program. The cookies will be sold at Wal-Mart, 255 W. Main St. Post Your Comment Below

Representatives of Wal-Mart, the giant national retailer hoping to build a 123,000-square- foot store on Farmington Avenue, will attend an informational meeting Saturday to answer questions from the public. The meeting will begin at 3 p.m. at Mountain View School. At 10:15 a.m., members of the city inland wetlands commission will inspect the site. The inspection also is open to the public. Wal-Mart is seeking approvals from city agencies to build a store, outside garden products area and a huge parking lot. The property is located on the south side of Farmington Avenue, just west of the Bristol-Farmington line.

Supporters and opponents of the proposed Wal-Mart in the town's northwest quadrant met face-to-face again Wednesday, this time to debate how the megastore would affect neighborhood safety. Nearly 100 residents, most of them opposed to the plan, attended a public hearing at Plainville High School on the impact of the proposed 130,000-square-foot store. The store would be built on Northwest Drive, off Route 177. Opponents said Wal-Mart would shatter the town's last piece of undeveloped land, turning residential Northwest Drive into a speedway.

A grant was given to the Watertown Art League, Inc. from Thomaston Savings Bank Foundation, Inc. to sponsor the Wal Juried Art Show 2014. The grant helped fund the cost of the reception and advertising for the event as well as the awards for honored pieces of art such as "Best In Show. " The art show began on June 7 and goes through June 21 at The Mark Potter Gallery at The Taft School in Watertown. The Watertown Art League, Inc. is one of the oldest established art leagues in the area whose aim is to promote and stimulate interest and activity in the visual arts.

Bryan Wright isn't a "showrooming" shopper who inspects a product at a local retailer before buying it for less from an unaffiliated online retailer. Wright, a Tolland resident, spotted two of Lego's Ninjago building sets at Walmart.com that he was ready to buy - the old-fashioned way. "Both were on sale online," says Wright, "and both were listed in stock. One would let me order site-to-store and the other . . . told me the product was available at the East Windsor Wal-Mart.

TORRINGTON - Police, assisted by bomb-sniffing dogs, have declared Wal-Mart safe after a bomb scare sparked an evacuation Monday. Officers were about to tell store officials that they may allow customers back in if they so choose, Lt. Bruce Whitely said shortly before 7:30 p.m. Explosives-sniffing dogs from the state police assisted with the search for bombs. About 5:10 p.m., an employee of the store at 970 Torringford St. called police and said the store had received a call from a male adult who said there were bombs in the area which would go off if the store didn't give the caller cash.

Leo Barrieau probably didn't realize the power of the consumer when he complained to The Bottom Line in April about improper unit pricing at two retail stores in West Hartford. The state Department of Consumer Protection, after being contacted by TBL, inspected Wal-mart and BJ's Wholesale Club, finding violations at both. State law requires all qualifying retailers that sell a consumer commodity to post the unit price and total price of that commodity. A report by DCP inspector Fred Journalist listed violations at the Bishops Corner Wal-mart for improperly labeled paper products and laundry detergent.

By MATTHEW STURDEVANT, msturdevant@courant.com and The Hartford Courant, April 16, 2013

It might seem an odd question, asking people if they are willing to buy life insurance at Wal-Mart or Target. But in its annual survey to glean information from consumers, Windsor-based LIMRA asked consumers just that. And it found that of the more than 2,000 people surveyed, 17 percent said they would buy life insurance directly from a retail outlet. This is the third annual Insurance Barometer Study conducted by LIMRA and the LIFE Foundation, an educational foundation for consumers regarding life insurance.

Flanked by legal experts and more than 100 residents, the town's opponents of Wal-Mart went on the offensive Wednesday, saying that a store off Northwest Drive would endanger the area's wetlands and well water. Opponents and supporters addressed the inland wetland commission during a four-hour public hearing on the environmental impact of Northwest Drive Limited Partnership's proposal for a 130,000-square-foot store. A wetland permit may be needed because the land is crossed by a stream feeding into the Pequabuck River.

By CHRISTOPHER HOFFMAN, Special to The Courant and The Hartford Courant, March 12, 2013

A New Britain man is accused of trying to shoplift a 37-inch flat screen television Monday from Walmart on the Berlin Turnpike and threatening store security officers who tried to stop him. Wilfredo Melendez, 51, was charged with third-degree larceny, threatening, interfering with police and sixth-degree larceny, police said. Melendez tried to walk out of the Walmart at 3164 Berlin Turnpike shortly after 5 p.m. without paying for the television, which cost $398, Sgt. Christopher Perry said.

By MARA LEE maralee@courant.com and The Hartford Courant, March 7, 2013

Ralph Nader, the consumer activist and former Green party presidential candidate, will picket in front of Wal-Mart stores in Torrington, Waterbury and Avon Saturday to bring attention to his call to raise the federal minimum wage. Nader supports a bill that calls for an increase of the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by 2016, and says really, the minimum wage ought to be $10.50, which is the 1968 level, adjusted for inflation. The minimum wage in Connecticut is $8.25, and nationwide, it is $7.25.